Ready to Melt: How to Make American Cheese

Do you have a secret love for American cheese, perhaps in a melty grilled cheese sandwich or on a diner-style cheeseburger? The folks at America's Test Kitchen have figured out how to make a block of that mild and familiar cheese from scratch, without any weird additives or preservatives.

American cheese is more like a cheese ball than a traditional cheese. Instead of starting with milk and rennet, as you would with most other types of cheese, America's Test Kitchen uses grated Colby cheese, gelatin and hot milk, which are mixed together in the food processor until smooth and then pressed into a small loaf pan. After chilling in the fridge for a few hours, the result is "a soft but sliceable cheese that oozes gently when heated."

Flavorings like black pepper and cayenne pepper can be added along the way, but we'd probably opt for a homemade take on the classic Kraft-Singles-and-Wonder-Bread grilled cheese sandwich, made with plain cheese slices and no-knead white sandwich bread. The ultimate comfort food!